Rookie all-rounder Mitchell Santner and veteran Grant Elliott have been rewarded for their recent strong performances by being included in New Zealand's list of centrally contracted players on Wednesday.
As the clock ticks down on Brendon McCullum's international career, the New Zealand captain will achieve one more milestone on Friday in the first Test against Australia at the Basin Reserve.
Uncapped leg spinner Ish Sodhi and all rounder Corey Anderson have been promoted from the New Zealand 'A' team to the full Test squad for a two Test series in Bangladesh in October.
Australia all-rounder Shane Watson is savouring his second chance at the World Cup after his omission from the side left him convinced he had played his last match at the tournament.
Virat Kohli, who has scored three centuries in the ongoing ninth edition of the Indian Premier League, feels he now has more belief in his ability to hit sixes.
New Zealand had produced 'almost the perfect performance' to destroy England in a World Cup match that lasted less than 50 overs on Friday.
New Zealand will face England with an unchanged side in their second World Cup match.
'I felt Test cricket is just beyond my reach.' 'And slowly, slowly, I started doing well.' 'In the second Test against Pakistan, I scored a fifty and when we went to Sialkot I played a series-saving innings, which was a game changer for me.' 'At that stage that was the most important innings of my life.'
Overall, India enjoy a wonderful against the Kiwis in Tests, having won 18 matches out of 52, but have clinched victory in only five games out of 21 in New Zealand.
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma, who steered the defending champions to their first win of the season with a 52-ball 94, credited West Indian Evin Lewis for allowing him to settle down on the crease in the Indian Premier League clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Indian Premier League's youngest player Sarfaraz Khan, who hit a blistering 21-ball unbeaten 45 against Rajasthan Royals in his side Royal Challenger Bangalore's, has set his sight on representing the country in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh next year.
Ashwin moves into top-10, Dhawan in career-high 32nd spot in the latest ICC Test rankings
The game features two of the world's leading batsmen captaining their sides in Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, as well as a pair of strike bowlers at the top of their game in Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.
Australia spinner Steve O'Keefe is aware that taming the Indians would be a 'big job' but exuded confidence that his team is capable of doing 'some damage' during their four-Test series.
'You have got to allow yourself the opportunity to stop and smell the roses. Today is about enjoying that. Tomorrow we will turn our attention to the final' 'You have got a group of guys that did everything for each other'
New Zealand's Brendon McCullum expects favouritism, underdog status and the possibility of choking under the weight of expectation to have little influence on Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against West Indies.
With it's scandalous past, still fresh in the minds of fans and critics alike, the Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers will look to ensure that the focus remains firmly on cricket when the cash-rich event gets underway with a glamorous opening ceremony on Tuesday.
New Zealand are looming as the popular dark horses for the cricket World Cup.
The India right-hander has 862 points in his kitty, still 25 points behind AB de Villiers of South Africa, who is heading the list.
New Zealand's Colin Munro and Ish Sodhi have started the year with a bang after vaulting to the top of the ICC T20I Player Rankings for batsmen and bowlers respectively, following stellar performances in the series against the West Indies, which recently concluded at Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.
Prithvi Shaw, Jason Sangha and Mujeeb Zadran are among the cricketers whose performances will be watched keenly in the upcoming ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
'Bowl the ball reasonably quick on the surface and make the batsmen commit a mistake' 'It always tends to spin here more, which is a good thing for me as a spinner. But yeah the Indians are very good players of spin, and we have to work really hard'
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner has emerged as New Zealand's trump card in the ongoing World Twenty20 but his bowling partner Ish Sodhi said it is not fair to compare him to the talismanic Daniel Vettori as both are completely different despite similar styles. Santner has grabbed eight wickets in three matches so far and has played a key role in New Zealand's smooth unbeaten march into the semifinals. "He (Vettori) was a fantastic bowler in his own right. But I think they are completely different bowlers. Santner is being himself as much as he can at the moment and it's working really well for him. For us to have his voice when we need it is really nice," Santner told reporters on the eve of the team's match against Bangladesh in Kolkata. Decoding the secret of Santner's success, Sodhi said the left-arm spinner's ability to use his wrist well makes him a difficult proposition in the spin-friendly Indian conditions. "He's a finger spinner but he puts a lot of wrist like leg-spin bowling. He puts lot of wrists on the ball. You have to do that with our conditions as it's not very conducive to spin, so you have to get something out of the wicket. I think he's a product of that.
One man, who won't be there in the opening game of the ICC WorldT20, was responsible for all four Indian defeats.
New Zealand entered their maiden ICC World Cup final, beating South Africa by five wickets in a thrilling rain-reduced World Cup semi-final at Eden spoPark in Auckland on Tuesday. Set 298 to win from 43 overs, the Kiwis, led by fine knocks from captain Brendon McCullum (59 off 26 balls) and Grant Elliott (84 off 73) got across the finish line with one ball to spare. Elliott hit the winning run with a six over long-on off the bowling of Dale Steyn.
The four best teams have made the semi-finals of the World Cup and New Zealand's clash with South Africa at Eden Park is going to be 'one heck of a show', according to coach Mike Hesson.
Martin Guptill stroked a fluent century to help New Zealand edge past Bangladesh by three wickets with seven deliveries to spare, in the ICC World Cup Pool A match in Hamilton, on Friday.
Watson used to take flak for his inability to convert half centuries to centuries but recently his problem has been progressing from scores in the 20s and 30s.
Kane Williamson coolly struck a straight six to give New Zealand a one wicket victory over Australia in a dramatic battle between the World Cup hosts at Eden Park on Saturday.
Here's what you need to know more about dominant batsman Ross Taylor.
A B de Villiers is likely to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore in the initial phase of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League in case Virat Kohli fails to recover from his shoulder injury.
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Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
As the teams gear up for the 2019 World Cup to be held in the UK across 11 venues, here is a look at the 10 greatest matches in the history of the mega-event.
The 2015 World Cup was, skipper Brendon McCollum said, the ride of a lifetime for New Zealand and even if Australia brought it to a shuddering halt in Sunday's final, their brilliant campaign will not quickly fade from the memory.
We give ourselves a 50-50 chance in the final, says McCullum.
India's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami received the biggest compliment in his two-year international career as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time Sir Richard Hadlee termed the young seamer's efforts in the ICC Cricket World Cup "particularly impressive".
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are India's highest-ranked batsman and bowler in third and 13th positions respectively.
New Zealand have never appeared so well-united as they do currently. 'Individually and collectively, under Brendon McCullum's astute leadership, they seem a formidable lot.'
When South Africa lost to India on Sunday, they cemented their reputation for 'choking' in ICC tournaments. Rajneesh Gupta tells us why South Africa's record for freezing in important ICC contests is, alas, well deserved.
